Do You Remember?
by steph1906
Summary: Post 2x16, Damon is reading in his bedroom when he gets a not-so unexpected visit from Katherine. She wants to take him down memory lane, but will Damon fall for it?


**Hello Folks, this one-shot comes with a special dedicatory, so bare with us (Yes, I said us) this fic is for a dear friend that adores Datherine and sees all the potential the TVD writers wasted, he's a very loyal friend to many, a gifted writer and one of the most selfless people we've had the pleasure to meet. This is for you, Luke. We hope you like it, we tried our best.**

 **Atte: Steph & Caro**

* * *

Silence fills the boarding house. Damon Salvatore is sitting on his bed, comfortably leaning back against the massive headboard, naked feet streched before him, reading his favorite book, _Gone with the Wind_ , a gift from his mother a lifetime ago. Suddenly, his vampire senses are piqued by a creak in the floorboards and a bittersweet smell combined with something uniquely spicey. He lays the book down on his nightstand unhurriedly and slowly turns to face his guest, almost expectantly.

"Katherine."

There she is, the almighty Katherine Pierce, smirking like the devil, with a couple of chocolate curly strands hanging on both sides of her face, and wearing nothing but her sexy black lingerie barely concealed by a silk bathrobe.

"Hello, Roomie."

"Don't call me that. As you saw before, I'm busy, so if you could let yourself out..."

"A book? Please, Damon, we both know I am far more interesting than any book you've ever read, or reread more times than you can count."

 _ **When did we lose our way?  
Easier to let it go (mmm...)  
So many can't tell anybody  
Harder to let you know**_

"And yet, I'd rather be reading that worn out book than be anywhere near you. We live in the same house, Katherine, a house that is pretty big. Find some other room to hang in, or better yet, go bother my baby brother. We both know you love that," he says, throwing her words back at her.

Damon smirks sarcastically and makes a show to stand up, but Katherine is faster and straddles him, effectively pinning him to the bed. Damon rolls his eyes, but doesn't fight back.

"Didn't we do this last night? How many times does a guy need to turn a girl down before she takes a hint?" He mocks, but this is Katherine Pierce. She can get any man she desires, except him. He will not let her have him, not again.

Katherine pouts and starts playing with the collar of his shirt, leaning dangerously close to his face.

"Don't tell me you're still mad about how I used you to stake Elijah?"

"You almost got me killed, what do you think?"

"I never wanted you dead, Damon. How could I want my sweet and innocent Damon Salvatore dead? It's like you don't know me at all, or you forgot everything we've been through since 1864."

 _It was a cloudy day. Katherine was taking a walk in the garden. Stefan was out of town with his father, leaving the house all for Damon and her. Katherine, with a mischevious grin, was thinking of some new moves she could teach Damon. Her sweet and innocent Damon._

 _She could hear steps approaching from a distance and smiled knowingly to herself. By the time her gaze locked with Damon's, her heart had begun to beat rapidly in her chest. They had not gotten a moment alone together in a very long time. Since she shared the two brothers, her time was usually limited between them. But today, she had the entire day to spend with the eldest brother. Now it was time to start the game._

 _"Catch me if you can, Mr. Salvatore," said Katherine, with a playful tone in her voice._

 _Then, without a warning, she started to run._

 _"Like I always do, Miss Pierce" was the answer he gave her, and the one she was expecting._

 _She could feel the gentle breeze caressing her skin, listening to Damon calling out to her from afar, while he pursued her. It had always been like that with them. One of the things he liked the most was the sense of control that came with the feeling that she was his prey. Oh, the irony. He was only human, while she was the predator. But that would change one day, so sure she was of it. His desire to feel like he had the upperhand and belief in the illusion thoroughly amused Katherine. Despite being much faster, she let him catch her every time, because she knew what was coming later. Often, it was foreplay before they lost themselves in each other._

 _Her playful smile mirrored Damon's. If Katherine was still human, she would be shivering by now. The atmosphere had changed, and she could feel droplets falling, while the day was turning darker. Katherine began slowing her steps to give Damon the opportunity to catch her just so she could get back in his arms. A moment later, he was holding her by the waist, hugging her from behind. His vibrant laughter was contagious. His chest rose and fell from lack of air._

 _Soon, Damon was bestowing kisses along her neck, a weakness of hers that he knew all too well, resulting in a flurry of emotions she found difficult to explain. His tongue started to travel from her neck to her ear. She was having a hard time catching her breath, too, despite needing none. Trying to regain the upperhand and control, she turned around and slowly traced a line across his exposed chest with a single finger, then brushed them along the outline of his mouth, and it didn't require vampire hearing to detect Damon's shortness of breath, or the thundering beats of his heart._

 _Long gone were the gentle droplets, replaced by a battering torrential downpour. But none of that mattered to the two lovers who remained standing there in the harsh rain._

 _Damon pushed Katherine up against a nearby tree, and soon their tongues met in a fiery kiss without restraint. With wet clothes, they gave way to the passion they had for one another, letting it rush out like a flood. Damon pulled her body closer to his, and she could feel his erection. Her nipples hardened instantly._

 _"You're driving me insane." Damon could not stop running his hands over her body, as if he could not get enough of her. Lifting her leg around his waist, he pressed his erection even closer against her core, making Katherine hold him tighter, if that was possible. A small moan escaped her lips when Damon began stroking a nipple through the fabric of her dress, a moan that was silenced by another seering kiss. Katherine could not stop herself from biting his lower lip with a devious gleem in her eyes and saying,_

 _"A lady cannot be seen this way outside of her home. I think it's time to christen that barn, don't you agree?" While Damon followed her, the anticipation radiated throughout his body._

 _ **How do I make you stay  
When it's easier to let you go?  
Nobody knows what we know about it  
No one needs to know**_

Damon shakes his head and uses his vampire speed to remove Katherine from his lap.

"Okay, Katherine, enough with the memory lane. We had great sex. I know that, but according to you, that's all it was. 'The truth is I never loved you. It was always Stefan.' Ringing any bells?"

Katherine lets out an abrupt chuckle and fixes the robe to cover her shoulder.

"I can't believe you bought that. You're smarter than that, Damon. At least, I thought you were. Elena must really have you stupidly in love if you couldn't figure out what my angle was that night."

"What on Earth are you talking about?"

"I lied, that night when I said I never loved you. I lied."

Damon is left speechless. All he can do is stare at her, which she takes as a green light to continue.

"You've lived for a hundred plus years and you're telling me that you've never heard that popular phrase 'Divide and conquer?' Isobel had some interesting things to say about you three, how you were practically a team, working together, you and Stefan getting along once again to protect...her." The bitterness in her tone was unmistakeable. "Stefan getting her love and devotion, while you, Damon, got the leftovers, got...," she paused, intentionally drawing out her taunting like a slow-sinking knife. "How do teenagers say it nowadays?" She smiled cruely. "Friendzoned. But surprisingly, that never bothered you. That is not the Damon that I knew. The Damon Salvatore I remember would've taken what he wanted—would've fought for it. That's how I knew my beloved doppelganger was changing you; she was destroying what I had created, so it was a win-win, destroying your little union and reminding you who you really are."

Damon met her eyes, "A monster?"

"We are what we are, Damon. It hurt me more than it hurt you, telling you that I never loved you when I knew it was a lie."

Damon gave her his most sarcastic smile, but his eyes were burning. Anger? Contempt? He didn't know exactly what he was feeling, but he was holding back every muscle in his body to not choke her, still doubtful of the things she was saying, still believing she only wanted to toy with him, like she always had. It was Katherine Pierce after all, queen of manipulation and mind games.

He gathered what little composure he could, not wanting to reveal how much she was affecting him right now. "Oh, I doubt that."

"It's true. I know you don't want to believe me, but I always loved you, Damon. If you had loved me a little less and Stefan had loved me a little more, we would've been happy, the three of us traveling around the world, experiencing everything life had to offer, together."

"You live in a fantasy world, Katherine; that would've never worked because you always loved Stefan more than you loved me, and nobody more than yourself."

"I can see you're still hurt by my words, but that's all they are, Damon. Words. I never loved Stefan more than I loved you."

Rolling his eyes again, Damon lets out a bitter laugh, but keeps his sarcastic smile.

 _ **Call me when you've made up your mind but you won't  
Caught up in a way that you played my heart  
Only love could ever hit this hard**_

"Oh, how I wish I could believe you. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me hundreds of times, shame on me. How do I know you're not lying again? Because everything you are saying…," he paused. "It's only that. Words. That's all they are," he quipped, with satisfaction on his face. "That's all you do, Katherine. Lies and manipulation are your signature mark."

"If you don t want to believe me, that's all on you. But I did love you. I still do. If you want to forget the past, fine. But I need to confess that I wasn't only checking on Stefan all these years. I was checking on you, too."

Damon is, once again, left speechless. He doesn't know what to think, doesn't have a smart reply. The truth is, he was curious to find out where she was going with this. He always thought she was only after Stefan. He thought that she didn't care enough about him to see how he was doing all this time.

Katherine sits on the bed, inviting Damon to do the same. And after he reluctantly takes a seat as far away as posible from her, she decides to continue.

"Remember the 70's? You were so sexy during that decade. More than usual. Skinny jeans, sex hair. You were more reckless than ever. You used to use the move that I taught you in 1864, lying on the street, waiting to attack the poor and naive people approaching to help you, without any remorse. After you fed on then, drained all the blood from their bodies, it was was such a turn on. Blood covering your face. You looked delicious. I had this urge to…," Katherine paused to see if she was causing the desired effect. He's surprised to hear that she's talking in specifics about that decade. It's written all over his face.

"But I couldn't show myself. Instead, I decided to follow your steps. You used to go to this bar every night. Billy's? Will's? You had fun. Then one day, I couldn't believe my eyes. You were with Lexi, of all people. I was amused watching her try to convert you into someone that you're not. Trying to turn you into Stefan. She was relentless, though. I'll give her that. Stupid and boring, but relentless. At that time, I was still moving from place to place, but I never stopped looking out for you. After a few months, I was back to see you again, I couldn't stop myself. That was the night you made me proud." She's looking at his face again, watching his expression closely. "She was a fool for believing that she could change you, that she could make you turn on your emotions again. But you, Damon, you were brilliant. I was proud, I must admit. I almost vomit for the sex part, but still. You made her believe that she had the power to turn you into Stefan 2.0, you made her fall into your trap, and then you left her on that roof, exposed to the sun."

Katherine has a look of amusement now, as she plays with her curls, remembering what Damon did to Lexi. Suddenly, her expression changes, and Damon is not sure if it's vulnerability that he sees or something else. The look is definitely foreign on her face.

"The same night, before of any of that, I was listening from outside, when she was making you talk about me in the bar. She wanted you to remember the way you felt for me."

 _ **Oh, don't be scared about it  
Don't forget it was real  
Do you remember the way it made you feel?  
Do you remember the things it let you feel?**_

"But you were trying so hard to avoid the subject. Why was that Damon? You didn't want to remember. You were scared that if you let yourself go down that road, then you'd have to remember what we had, that it was real."

There's a cautious expresion on his face.

Approaching Damon, she caresses his cheek, "Don't you remember how good we were together? The way that I made you feel?"

Damon looks at Katherine, frowns, and slowly moves out of her reach.

"I am surprised you know about that, but the past can't change anything, Katherine. Lexi was my baby bro's best friend. I wouldn't doubt you were on our trail so she could lead you right to him."

Katherine, visibly annoyed, shakes her head and sighs exasperatingly while she rounds the bed, walking until she reaches Damon's side, and sits down closer than he finds comfortable.

"The 20's."

"Huh?"

"Where were you on the 20's?" She asks, growing impatient.

Damon gets a pensive look on his face, reminiscing about how he lived it up in Chicago with the feeding, sex, and killing. How he would use his charm to lure the daisies to a dark alley. And he smiles just a bit, before he remembers Stefan was in Chicago, as well.

"Stefan was there too, Katherine. I think you failed to prove the point of your undying love for me," he adds with a tone of mockery.

"Aren't you going to ask why I was there?"

"I already know. You heard my baby bro was a ripper and you wanted to save him to prove your unwavering love, so he could see that you had changed. To save him from himself, in hope that he could forget everything you did to him back in 1864, proving that epic love really does conquer all," He glances over at her after making the grand assumptions. "Am I forgetting something?" He says, raising a brow and giving her a sarcastic smile.

"Something brought me to Chicago, Damon. I didn't know either Stefan or you were there. I was pleasantly surprised." She smiles with a dreamy look in her eye, reminiscing. "Stefan looked so handsome, and he was hanging out with la creme de la creme from Chicago. He was having a great time..."

"Boooooring," Damon chimes.

Katherine gives him a killer look, but continues her story anyway.

"One night, while I was walking down a street, a strong, bloody scent drew me into a dark alley. I suppose I was hungry since I hadn't been feeding well. I had to be invisible. No one could know I was in Chicago. Anyway, I followed that smell, and there you were. I could only see a girl having the best time of her life and a sexy broad back accompanied by those black curls I liked so much."

She moves closer to him, until she can cup the back of his neck to softly caress his raven hair, longing for the time when that hair was curly.

"I watched how you fucked her against a wall and then bit her, only to compel her later." She smiles, a real smile. "I was so proud you had embraced your nature. I had to restrain myself from reaching out to you and joining. You were doing so great Damon, so I had nothing to worry about."

Katherine once again slowly straddles him, and Damon is hypnotized by her, allowing himself to pull her closer to his body.

"Don't you get it, Damon? I checked on you over the years. You never left my mind. You never have..."

She experimentally brings her lips closer to his, waiting for him to reject her, but instead Damon finally snaps and kisses her with a burning passion that catches them both by surprise. She slides her tongue over his lips, expecting the desired entrance to his mouth, which he immediately complies to, engaging their tongues in a furious battle. He cups her head to change the angle of the kiss and takes full control while his right hand squeezes her hip. She starts rocking her hips against his while unbuttoning his shirt. His lips start trailing hot kisses all over the side of her neck; her hand travels tortuously slow from his chest to his stomach 'til she gets to his happy trail. Suddenly, Damon snaps and pushes her off him, standing up from the bed with his vampire speed. Both are left standing in front of Damon's bed, looking at each other, breathing heavily, trying to regain composure. Damon is the one who talks first.

 _ **When did we lose our way?  
Easier to let it go (mmm...)  
So many can't tell anybody  
Harder to let you know**_

"We are not doing this. It's too late, Katherine. I am not in love with you anymore. The truth is I'm not even sure I ever loved you, not after experiencing what I feel for Elena. I want to believe I did. I want to believe my death, my choices, wasn't because of some delusion that I had. I want to believe it was real."

 _ **Oh, don't be scared about it  
Don't forget it was real  
Do you remember the way it made you feel?  
Do you remember the things it let you feel?**_

Katherine stands closer to him and speaks.

"It was real, Damon. It was always real for me. I have never in my life opened up like this to anyone, but you deserve to know the truth, and the truth is that I love you. If I have to come clean about the past and the things I did to keep track of you to get you to believe me, so be it. You can't deny what is undeniable. You can't ignore the facts." She starts talking faster and getting heated with the possibility that Damon might never believe her. "How did I know about Lexi, huh? Or about the thousands of daisies you deflowered in the 20's? No one told me that. I saw it with my own eyes. I don't want you dead, Damon. I did love you. If you're ever going to believe anything that comes out of the mouth, any words from the elusive Katherine Pierce, believe that."

Damon stays quiet for a few seconds, thinking over everything she's telling him, thinking about the things that could be true and the things that are not, thinking of everyt horrible thing this woman has ever done, but remembering the good times they had together, too. She's right about one thing. No one could've told her about Lexi, or the daisies, and suddenly it hits him like a train. Katherine Pierce, for once, is telling the truth. And it's with this realization that he loosens up his body and lets out a breath he's held in for what seems like centuries.

"I don't know what your angle is here, Katherine, but for whatever reason, after everything you told me, I do believe you loved me, in your sick and twisted way."

" _Love_ , Damon. I never stopped. I still love Stefan, and I still love you"

Damon smiles at her and leans against the bedpost of his bed.

"Life is a bitch then, isn't it? 'Cause now we're both in love with Elena."

Katherine detects mockery in Damon's tone and decides the time for uncovering truths is over. He knows what she wanted him to know, and he believes her. She's not willing to be any more vulnerable than that, not tonight at least. She tells herself it's time to put on her famous heartless bitch facade again and walks toward the door, but turns around with a playful gleam in her eyes.

 _ **When you love to your limit  
You gave all you're given  
Who you gonna pray to when you're there?  
Will you find out that there ain't no other love  
No other love for you?**_

 _ **Call me when you've made up your mind but you won't  
Caught up in a way that you played my heart  
Only love could ever hit this hard**_

"Well, it's a shame she only loves Stefan. It wasn't that way for me, but seems like for Elena…? It's always going to be Stefan."

She winks at him and walks away with the grace that only one Katherine Pierce could have. Damon lets out a soft chuckle and grabs his book again.

 _That bitch_ , he thinks before opening to the page where he left off.

* * *

 **The song we used and that you see entwined with the story is: "Do you remember" by Jarryd James. Fits right in with the one-shot and we highly recommend you to listen to it ;)**


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